Cultural and Social Identities

Cultural and Social Identities

Constructions of identity–who I am and who we are–shape the cultural landscape and are central to political alignments and advocacy across the socio-economic spectrum. Centering the study of people as individuals, communities and societies, Cultural & Social Identities (CSI) investigates how identities shape social relations and cultural flows between local and global contexts. Drawing from tools of the social sciences (anthropology, sociology, psychology, geography, education, linguistics) and the humanities (art, literature, media studies, philosophy), CSI examines how groups and individuals make meaning, construct social relations, and distribute power. CSI  courses analyze the building-blocks of identity, such as values, naming, branding, group affiliations and behaviors, and group politics and modes of expression. We introduce students to effective research methods and practices, including analysis of culture and politics, observations of public life and space, and in-depth interviews and focus groups. Our graduates are well-poised to pursue careers in a wide variety of fields including, law, education, psychology, journalism, marketing, public relations, and public policy.  
  • Migration and Transnational Identities 
  • Gender and Sexuality
  • Film, TV and Visual Representation
  • Transregional Perspectives: Travel and Tourism
  • Ethnic, National and Racial Identities
  • Cultural Politics of Food, Sports, Dance, Museums, etc.
  • The Politics of Fashion, Branding and Advertising
  • Cultural Analysis of Education, Health, Disability
  • Field Study: Qualitative and Quantitative Research

 

Mitra Rastegar, Chair
Research: Transnational Feminism; Cultural Studies; Islamophobia & Representations of Muslims; Secularism and Liberalism; Racism/Racialization; Affects/Emotions

Jeannine Chandler
Research: Sectarianism in Tibetan Buddhism; Tibetan Buddhism in the West; Representations of Shangri-La; Asia and Asians from Western perspective; Asian diasporas; Nationalism and identity formation of minority groups in Asia; history of emotions; intersections of religion, psychology and violence

Ida Chavoshan
Research: English as a(n) Additional/Second/Foreign Language, Academic Writing, Global Englishes, Cognitive Linguistics, Teaching of Culture, Multimodalities, Classroom Pedagogy, Second Language Acquisition, Sociocultural Theory, Systemic Functional Linguistics

Ifeona Fulani
Research: Literatures of Africa and the African Diaspora; Black Cultural Studies; Caribbean Studies; Black Feminism; Literatures of Migration

Cammie Kim Lin
Research: Food Studies, Food Writing, English Education, Public Education, Critical Mixed Race Studies, Multiracial/Multiethnic Identity, Young Adult Literature, Queer Pedagogy

Carol Lo
Research: Second Language Pedagogy; Conversation Analysis; Discourse Analysis; Pedagogical Interaction; Video-Mediated Family Interaction; Emotion/Affect in interaction

Roberta Newman
Research: Critical Sports Studies; Global Advertising and Branding; American Popular Culture; American Cultural History; Contemporary Pilgrimage Practices; Illustration and Graphic Design; 19th Century Popular Horror Literature

Adedamola Osinulu
Research: Global Pentecostalism; African Christianity; Space and Place

Christopher Packard
Research: 18th and 19th Century Literary Cultures; 19th Century Queer Westerns, Self-Representation by Minorities in North America, 1700-1830; Creative Writing

Marian Thorpe
Research: Indigenous Rights; Human Rights; Environmental Justice; International Conservation and Development; Climate Change Politics; Race and Ethnicity in Latin America

Deborah Williams
Research: Feminist literary history and historiography; Writing and composition pedagogy; Children’s literature; Global liberal arts education; Creative writing